The present invention relates to an extrudable candy flavored food product of the type which is generally extruded in flat sheets or rolls, and intended to be rolled into a fruit roll candy product.
Candy products generally vary a great deal depending upon the type of candy product intended to be created and sold to the public. One such type of candy product is generally referred to as a fruit roll, which is generally a soft, lightly chewy ribbon of a fruit-based confection extruded onto glossy paper and rolled. This type of product is generally formulated from a variety of components, including sweetening agents, flavoring agents, binders, water, stabilizers, acidulants, fruit flavorants, and coloring agents. It is well known that the candy industry as well as the snack type food products is a highly competitive industry. Hence, it is particularly desirable to aid in the marketability of any particular candy product by generally being able to increase the novelty as well as the edibility of the product in order to enhance the merchandising of that particular food product.
Fruit based snack products such as fruit rolls, have found a very good market acceptance, and the merchandising of rolled up tape of candied fruit product has been successful heretofore. These types of products generally include the ingredients set forth above, and have in common the fact that they have a very high sweetening agent content, but a fairly low water content. This tends to make the product somewhat tacky and sticky so that it is extruded in order to create a ribbon effect. The drawback has been that the product is fairly sticky, and therefore, in order to extrude the same in the form of a ribbon, and then to create a roll from the product, it is necessary that the product first be extruded onto a glossy paper or other underlying support material. In this manner, once the product is created in the roll form, there is a glossy paper or other support material which separates the candy from itself and incident to the rolling process. This then permits the consumer to unpeel the extruded candy ribbon from the glossy paper in order to consume the same.
Heretofore, it has not been possible to create such a candy product in rolled form without providing a glossy paper or other similar underlying support material which thereby allows the consumer to peel the candy from the paper incident to the consuming process.
Various formulations have been employed heretofore in the creation of fruit roll candy products. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,117,176 delineates a number of such types of products which are currently commercially available. The subject patent has as its purpose the creation of a similar candy product which is translucent, and includes opaque dehydrated fruit particles therein.
A more explanatory prior art consists of U.S. Pat. No. 6,153,233, which is intended to present an improved method and apparatus for creating a candy fruit flavored rolled ribbon like candy product. The purpose of the subject patent is to produce a method which improves upon the method of creating such a product. However, as delineated in the U.S. Pat. No. 6,153,233, the prior art continues to produce a ribbon type candy product generally referred to as a fruit roll, which requires an underlying support material onto which the candy product is extruded. By extruding the product onto an underlying support material, the product then may be rolled upon itself and when rolled, will keep a layer of the underlying support material such as glossy paper adjacent to the candy so that the consumer may unroll it and be able to consume the candy product. It is clear in the prior art that any attempt to create the rolled candy product without providing a glossy paper support material will cause the candy to stick to itself when rolled, and make it impossible for the consumer to consume the product.
It has therefore been deemed desirable to be able to produce a candy formulation for creating a fruit rolled candy product which eliminates the underlying support material or glossy paper in order to eliminate the problem of the disposal of the paper and also reduce the cost of manufacturing the product. It will be understood that if one can eliminate the support material or the glossy paper, one can eliminate a significant expense incident to the manufacturing process, which reflects itself from the cost of the product.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a formulation for a fruit flavored fruit roll candy product which maintains all the desirable characteristics of such types of products including the tackiness thereof, but eliminates the need for an underlying support material for the extrusion of the candy product thereon.
In connection with the foregoing object, it is a further object of the present invention to provide a fruit roll candy product of the type described wherein the underlying support material may be eliminated, while still permitting the product to be rolled onto itself and accommodate the unrolling thereof by the consumer for the purpose of consuming the product.
Further features of the invention will best be understood by reference to the accompany specification which delineate and explain the preferred embodiments of the invention.
In summary, it is the object of the present invention to provide a fruit roll candy product which may be extruded in the form of a ribbon or belt, which maintains a sticky yet pliable characteristic, and nevertheless enables the product to be rolled onto itself without the need of any underlying support material. Further, the formulation of the present invention is intended to provide a rolled fruit candy product which maintains an excellent eating quality, and yet has extended shelf life, while still maintaining all the other characteristics of such types of candy products without the need of the underlying support material in order to permit the consumer to unroll and consume the product.